Old vs. New

To me, it seems that nowadays, when talking about religion and science, there sometimes seems to be a religion vs. science attitude.  Religion might sometimes be said to be the old ways, part of the past.  Science, many might say, is the way of the future.  Can only one have a place in our world?

To explain my view on this topic, I'm going to start by talking about a children's television series that I loved as a kid (and I'll confess that I still do).  The show is called Power Rangers.  There was a fan, who calls himself Linkara, that made a video series, analyzing each season, giving his views, and talking about the theme of each season.

The first season of Power Rangers, he said, had a magic vs. technology theme.  Rita Repulsa, the villain, has a palace filled with magical objects, she summons living monsters, she has a magic wand that makes her monster grow, her monsters have a very mystical feel to them, and she uses other magical items (such as a candle) to do many things.  The rangers, on the other hand, have their secret headquarters at a high-tech command center, their powers come from something called the morphing grid, a robot looks after their command center, they use giant robots to fight the monsters in large size, they use other technological gadgetry to help themselves out, and one of them invents new machines to deal with extreme situations.  The theme continues throughout the second season, especially in the beginning, but it is heavily underplayed in the third season.

In the fourth season, with the show being renamed Power Rangers: Zeo, the theme seems to become reversed.  Rita Repulsa and everyone she works with are kicked out of their palace by a new group of villains, called the Machine Empire.  It is a royal family of machines, using machines as their monsters.  On the other side, the Power Rangers now have new powers, with a magical crystal being their main source.  They still meet at a high-tech headquarters, and the equipment they use is primarily machinery.  However, there's dialogue commenting that while these new villains are machines, the rangers are people with hearts and souls, and the machines they use are only extensions of themselves.

Near the end of Power Rangers: Zeo, the villains from the first three seasons return, and we see them face off with the current villains.  The original villains have been using magical items, which they continue to do.  The current villains are full-on machines.  However, the Power Rangers have embraced both, and they are typically successful in doing so.  They use high-tech machinery in combination with ancient powers, and they themselves are living humans, not machines.  The outcome, thematically, seems to be that magic and technology should both be embraced.

I sometimes think of that idea of the fourth season, in many ways, as an allegory for science (technology) and religion (magic).  I've heard quite a few scientists, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, comment that religion had it's purpose when we weren't able to know much about the universe, but when we did more studying and got more answers, it became worthless.  Several historians on religion, such as Karen Armstrong and John Dominic Crossan, will say that many of our religious myths may have not necessarily been intended to be taken literally, and we should go back to the old ways of understanding these myths.

Science and religion combined can make for a marvelous combination.  We have science explaining how the cosmos works, and religion expressing how we experience it.  The stories in the Biblical Book of Genesis are beautiful stories, and when taken as metaphor and allegory, they can have great meaning.  The scientific information we now have on the big bang, evolution, and everything around us also has meaning about who we are.  The combination can be extremely special.

Something else that I feel symbolizes the combination of old and new is steampunk culture.  The idea is typically Victorian-era inspired clothing, artwork, etc.  However, they put a high-tech futuristic twist on it.  There are a few steampunk enthusiasts that have gone to great lengths to make their modern day computers look more old fashioned, and to do the same with other items.

The way that many churches are set up is yet another way we can see the old ways and new ways working together.  The churches I typically go to are filled with stained-glass imagery, have candles at the front, our organist plays the music of Bach, and we occasionally sing hymns that date back to over a thousand years ago.  However, the person leading the service uses a microphone, we have electric lights, and the pipe organ is helped with electro-pneumatic action.  That too shows a way of combining the old ways and the new ways.

Do the old ways and the new ways have to be in conflict?  I'm not inclined to think so.  I think that the old ways can still be embraced, but we also should embrace the new ways.  I think combining the two can be powerful and life-giving.

Shalom!